Tip: Keep a young attitude. Age is a number

At this year's Super Bowl, The Who performed their 45-year-old song "My Generation," which features the famous line "I hope I die before I get old."

Boomers know the first of those life events is inevitable, but are there ways to not go gentle into the dark night of aging? Yes, says one anti-aging expert: Start by not acting old.

"Unless you plan, the traditional senior culture is going to get you," says author Barbara Morris. "It becomes embedded in your thought process that you're getting old."

Morris says this "traditional senior culture" is especially deadly for women because it expects them to grow older but not grow mentally. "Continuous lifelong learning is the key," she says. "There's absolutely no reason for a senior to be buffaloed by a cell phone or a computer."

Her new book, "No More Little Old Ladies!" is aimed not so much at reversing the aging process as it is reversing the aging mindset. And while she advises keeping your chronological age to yourself, she proudly gives hers. "I'm 81," she says. "I'm not in the age closet."

Morris makes the distinction between aging and being old. "Aging is inevitable, but being old is a choice," she says. She also says it is important not to ignore your age. Instead, she advises living in a state of "perpetual awareness" about the changes your body is going through, because the knowledge can help you reverse some of the damage.

"You have to educate yourself about nutrition," she says. "You can't be eating the [bad] all-American diet and expect to get into your 50s and 60s and 70s and look good and feel good."

And don't forget to exercise. Morris recognizes that our spark - what she calls our life force - starts to diminish as we age, but exercise can jump-start our bodies and revive vitality. She also offers tips on her website,

nomorelittleoldladies.com.

Most important, do not classify yourself as a senior - a term she despises. "I'm a mature woman in a constant state of growth," she says. "You can call me a senior if you want, but that's not my mindset, and that's not my lifestyle."